In many televised sporting events, it is desirable to track and display the movement of an object. For example, in baseball, it is desirable to track and display the movement of the baseball so that television viewers may observe the flight path of the baseball. Similar applications exist for other sporting events, such as basketball, hockey, tennis, etc.
Previous solutions to display an object have utilized image processing techniques to determine the location of the object, but these systems have a very limited range and limited accuracy in a targeted area. Typically used for pitch tracking in a baseball application, wide coverage of an entire stadium for real-time hit detection and baseball tracking is not currently possible using such image processing techniques.
Therefore, there is a need to be able to track, and display in real time the flight path of a baseball during a live television broadcast. Further, it would be desirable to be able to show other aspects of the object, such as trajectory, spin, velocity, etc. Finally, it would be desirable to be able to show estimated object impact points with a virtual home run wall, stadium/stands, and also display the ground while the object is still in flight.